Ok my first peach tree I planted right after I bought my house almost 30 years ago. It was a heck of a producer. Some years we had so many peaches the limbs would bend down to the ground (which certainly helped harvesting). Great tree that had only one fault which is if we got a heat wave in early February it would flower and some years a late freeze would wipe it out. It had a good life but passed peacefully. Dr. hoop got some great wood for his BBQ pit.

So I I need a new one and request recommendations on type and where to get one.

Round rock
Full sun
Later bloom, March preferred and harvest summer.
Cold tolerant since we get 15 degree almost every year.
Great tasting peaches.

Any help would be greatly welcomed

https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/fruit-nut/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2015/04/peaches_2015.pdf

These guys know things

Thanks

Sam houston for an earlier peach (my favorite), elberta for a little later. Grimes county.

Last year was 150lbs of Sam houstons. No spraying anything. Was able to sneak out 6.5 gallons of peach brandy that finished out at 35 percent. Canned up a bunch as well as dried some like you do apricots. Once I had my fill of cobbler and ice cream.

[url=https://ibb.co/YQx0rR5][/url]
[url=https://ibb.co/64LYhWR][/url]

We got our peach tree last year from Snooper's in RR, by old settler's park. They had multiple varieties.

Jeremy sounds like your brandy could also be called moonshine.

OO great tip. I've called a few local places and can't even get someone on the phone.

Coop, trees of brehnam, tsc, aa plants in Montgomery are all places I have seen the sam houstons. They should be pretty common.

When does your Sam bloom?

tractor supply actually has good trees and will be the best prices most likely, but you have to know what you are looking for. Box stores commonly sell trees (especially fruit trees) that wont thrive in the area being sold.

For your area, Sam Houston and June Gold would be good, probably early-mid june harvest. La Feliciana and Dixiland would be a little later but very popular peaches.

Look up your countys ag extension website and they should have a fruit tree guide with recommended varieties. There will be alot more trees that will work than listed, but that will get you started.

Use the listed chilling hours for each variety to have at least three different numbers. This is insurance for weather variations.... early freezes etc.

https://www.fast-growing-trees.com/collections/fruittrees

Even if you don't buy them here, this place has multiple varieties of fruit trees with a lot of information as well as what growing zone each tree grows best in. I bought a plum and an apple tree off there to try this year. Make sure if you are only getting one tree to get one that is "self-fertile".

See attachment from Texas AgriLife ( county ag agent) for varieties recommended for Williamson County.

Rootstock is as important as variety. Stick to a variety that has chill hours requirements that match your area. The guide below has that info.

Highly recommended you buy from a retail nursery that understands plants for your area and not a big box store.

I've had a small home orchard that always had about a dozen peach trees of different varieties. They're one of my favorite fruits.

https://williamson.agrilife.org/files/2020/06/Fruit-and-Nut-Tree-Guide.pdf

Ok going to snoopers tomorrow for a Sam Houston which they have in stock. 5 gallon. Weekend project.

Thanks all.

Good choice. June Gold is my favorite and been growing it for 15 years but it is not a freestone like the above chart mentions. Around CS the Sam Houston is finished ripening around Mid June.

Bonanza Peach is the best one i have ever had. My tree was a dwarf variety, but tasted better than any peach I have ever eaten. I had a few planted around the pool at my old house. I am going to try and plant a couple this year.

FYI the Sam H was developed by the Ag school. So it must be meant for my yard.

I've wanted a peach tree in Corpus, but that's tough country for them. Chilling hours, bugs, and disease make it tough, not to mention squirrels and 'possums (but i know how to handle those).

I had squirrels eat 20 peaches of mine when i lived in Houston. I ended up shooting 19 Squirrells in 48 hours with my pellet gun. It got to the point that squirrels would come to my fence and turn south climb to the ground around my house to get around to my next door neighbors. They were terrified of climbing on trees in my yard.

The only good squirrel is a dead squirrel. At least on my property

When they wouldn't come in my yard i started putting piles of corn and would shoot them with my bow. My dogs loved that game.

I'm moving to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches

plowboy1065 said:

---

I'm moving to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches

---

Try to find Jesus on your own?

B-1 83 said:

---

plowboy1065 said:

---

I'm moving to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches

---

Try to find Jesus on your own?

---

Not that one but I do love John Prine

Millions of peaches, peaches for me

aggiesundevil4 said:

---

Millions of peaches, peaches for me

---

LOOK OUT!

Last spring, my peaches were just about ready and one night my squirrels cleaned them out. Not one scrap, or seed, or piece of evidence left showing there had been fruit on the trees. I still don't know what they did with them.

Probably buried them for later

agz win said:

---

Last spring, my peaches were just about ready and one night my squirrels cleaned them out. Not one scrap, or seed, or piece of evidence left showing there had been fruit on the trees. I still don't know what they did with them.

---

Probably some coons or possums. Squirrels don't do nighttime.

Serious Lee said:

---

tractor supply actually has good trees and will be the best prices most likely, but you have to know what you are looking for. Box stores commonly sell trees (especially fruit trees) that wont thrive in the area being sold.

For your area, Sam Houston and June Gold would be good, probably early-mid june harvest. La Feliciana and Dixiland would be a little later but very popular peaches.

Look up your countys ag extension website and they should have a fruit tree guide with recommended varieties. There will be alot more trees that will work than listed, but that will get you started.

---

June Gold and Dixie Red are both great

It's very ironic this thread came up as I was telling my wife I want to get a peach tree but curious how they would hold up in west texas (Midland to be exact)?

Anyone have any knowledge if the tree could survive or is there a better fruit tree that can handle our weather?

I'm sure you have alkaline soil so look for an alkaline tolerant rootstock such as Halford. I'm no expert but I have researched peaches quite a bit. This is priority number 1A. Priority 1B is matching your zone to an appropriate (cold chill) variety. If you do this and keep it watered sufficiently, you can probably grow it to some extent.

Definitely have a community of raccoons and possums but some small limbs had fruit and wouldn't have held up with their weight and there was no damage.

Done! A Sam Houston from Snoopers. Really liked the garden nursery. Local and good service. Made a mistake in taking the wife. I'm an in and out shopper. The boss had to take a thorough stroll around the place.

Ended up with a yellow rose and some vegetables.

Piggy backing here... I planted 2 peach trees 3 or 4 years ago. Growing like weeds and now really big. They get tons of blooms and grow tons of little peaches, but they never get bigger and ripen. I think i fertilize and water enough... Any ideas of what the problem is? This is in Central Texas.

jpb1999 said:

---

Piggy backing here... I planted 2 peach trees 3 or 4 years ago. Growing like weeds and now really big. They get tons of blooms and grow tons of little peaches, but they never get bigger and ripen. I think i fertilize and water enough... Any ideas of what the problem is? This is in Central Texas.

---

My late grandfaher was a peach farmer in his retirement. Had 144 peach trees (among other fruit trees) in his orchard. He had a an all weather creek and could pump up the hill to irrigate when needed. I lost track of how many different varieties he had planted but he diversified by choosing harvesting dates. That meant his workers (us grandkids) were assigned peach picking anytime we were gathered at his house from May-early August. His orchard was a sandy loam with a clay pan at about fifteen feet. Chilling hours were always a concern even with dormant oil applied. Fertilizer was an afterthought to him. Just chilling hours and water, water, water. He did use some limited pesticides (mostly off of the market these days and was certified by the state to handle those) but squirrels, possums, coons were always a problem.

After my Dad (Class of '48) died unexpectedly, Mom moved back to be near her parents and worked that orchard and farm alongside them for ten years. My grandfather would go ballistic when he would find a peach pit carefully positioned on top of his 8x8 fence posts and then would be up in a tree outside of the orchard, barking and waving their tail at him.

One day, my Mom arrived with them to the orchard and there were five peach pits on five fence posts. He asked my Mom, "Baby, get the 22 and shoot that damn squirrel." So she did. Squirrel fell out the tree. My grandmother got to it before my grandfather and grandmother looked at said, "It's a sow."

Grandfather got there and picked it up to look more closely and burst out laughing. "Baby, you shot his balls off!"

The next week, there was a family dinner with my grandfather's family. When she drove them up and got out the truck, all of grandfather's brothers (and there were four of them) collectively put their hands down to cover their genitals. "Don't shoot!"